MSU Cross Country Closes Out Season at Mountain Regional

Friday, November 11

Logan, UT

12 p.m.

Montana State University

NCAA Mountain Region Championship

Ty Mogan

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

MSU Cross Country Closes Out Season at Mountain Regional

11/11/2016 2:55:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Men's Results Women's Results

Bobcats outperform regional rankings as they wrap up season at regional meet

By: Andrew Pedersen

LOGAN, Utah – Montana State's cross country season came to an end Friday, Nov. 11, with the men's and women's teams finishing 12th and 14th, respectively, at the NCAA Mountain Regional on the Steve and Dona Reeder Cross Country Course.

"Both teams outperformed their regional rankings coming in," Montana State head coach Lyle Weese said. "The women weren't ranked coming into the meet and the guys were ranked 14th and ended up finishing 12th, so I thought that was definitely a sign that our teams ran well today."

The men's team placed 12th in the 10-kilometer race with 396 points. The top three ranked teams in the nation – Northern Arizona (60), Colorado (76) and BYU (79) – finished in order at the top of the team leaderboard.

Sophomore Tyler Mogan led the Montana State men's squad by taking 35th individually in a time of 31 minutes, 47.90 seconds. Mogan's finish was 27 spots higher than his debut appearance at the regional meet a season ago. He was the Bobcats' fastest finisher in all five meets this fall.

Senior Zachary Kughn followed Mogan for second in the MSU lineup for the third time this season, taking 63rd overall with a time of 32:38.50.

"Ty's race was really exciting and Zach's race was a great way to end his career on a strong note like that," Weese said. "Both those performances were outstanding. For a sophomore like Ty to run so well in our region, it is something really special in terms of our team and how well someone can do in just their second year of college."

Freshman Isaac Barville finished 79th in a mark of 33:20.60, his second time taking third in MSU's scoring lineup this year. Bobcats senior Adam Wollant took 82nd in 33:33.20 and sophomore Anthony Schmalz placed 86th 33:43.70 to complete MSU's top-five runners.

Also competing for the Bobcats were Shawn Peden (34.17.90) and Cameron Carroll (34:32.30).

First-ranked Colorado won the Mountain Regional on the women's side with 35 points, outdistancing fellow ranked squads New Mexico, Air Force, Utah and BYU.

Sophomore Alyssa Snyder helped lower MSU's team performance to 396 points in the 6K meet with a 41st-place finish. Her time of 21:23.30 helped lower her overall showing by 10 spots from a season ago.

MSU sophomore Layne Oliver earned her second runner-up finish in the team lineup by taking 76th overall with a time of 22:09.30. Freshman Madison Liechty took third on the team and placed 88th overall by crossing the finish line at 22:21.50, while junior Louisa Serpe finished 91st in a time of 22:24.90. All three earned their fastest 6k times of the year at the regional. Senior Christie Schiel wrapped up MSU's scoring lineup by taking 100th in a time of 22:37.30 in just her second race this fall.

"The women's team had their best team race of the year I would say," Weese said. "Our 2-3-4-5 runners all ran really well, better than they have as a group previously. It was really exciting to run in our last meet that well."

Also competing in the women's 6K for the Bobcats were sophomores Kelsi Lasota (23:12.90) and Kendra Larson (23:38.20).

"The experience at the regional meet is really invaluable to the athletes," Weese said. "I thought both teams handled it really well. The men's side is as strong as it's ever been, or as strong as any individual region has ever been nationally. "The teams in the women's region are also really strong and competitive. It was definitely a great experience and great competition."

The Bobcats' cross country season ended at the Mountain Regional, with the top two teams and top four runners in the individual top-25 earning bids to the NCAA Cross Country Championships. MSU looks forward to the indoor track and field season which begins in January.